
Class H S^ S. 

Book ZES._ 

Copyright N° 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 





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THE MYSTIC BROTHER 



£2 



BY 



HARRY E. TUCKER, A. B. 



£i 



1905 

CHICAGO HEIGHTS 

ILLINOIS 






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Copyright 1905. 

By HAERY E. TUCKER 

All rights reserved. 



TO MY MOTHER. 



PREFACE. 

" And though I have the gift of prophecy 
and understand all mysteries and all knowl- 
edge, and though I have all faith, so that I 
could remove mountains— and have not 
charity, I am nothing." 

The basis of fraternal societies is the 
common recognition of the obligation of 
brotherhood, each pledging to the other his 
loyal fellowship toward helping every 
brother man to achieve life in more and 
more abundance. 

This little volume is not designed as an 
argumentative discussion of the topics pre- 
sented, but simply to speak in behalf of 
some of the elements of comfort and hope 
that abound in the established principles 
of brotherhood and to emphasize if pos- 
sible, for the readers, the truth that shines 



forth so radiantly from both science and 
religion— " that there is nothing beautiful 
or grand in life, but in its mysteries, man 
himself being the greatest mystery of the 
whole." The author desires that these 
addresses may be understood in a sense 
broad and comprehensive enough to 
include whatever the fraternal spirit, as a 
recognized factor, has done to contribute to 
the success, harmony and comfort of the 
world. The author, who has watched and 
served so many times with those in distress, 
or very great need, when earthly hopes 
had all but vanished and the props on which 
they leaned were cut from beneath them, is 
eminently fitted by nature and by oppor- 
tunity, to verify the facts that fraternal 
co-operation is the highest commission of 
which human nature is possible. His expe- 
riences have brought him to see the strong 
as well as the weak minds alike dependent 
upon the ' ' Friend that sticketh closer than 



PREFACE 7 

a brother. ' J Believing that the efforts that 
have brought forth this volume will dis- 
cover in these discourses the source and 
strength of that simple faith in the Divine 
Fatherhood and human brotherhood, you 
are implored to let friendship, love and 
truth and serving the Great Shepherd, be 
the things for which we labor, while we 
hope and expect the realization of the words 
of the Great Teacher of men, that the earth 
will have but one sheep fold where its chil- 
dren will truly find themselves bound 
together in a union of thought as well as of 
heart. Emma M. Bryan. 

Murphysboro, 111. 
January 4, 1905. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

The Fathekhood of God and the Broth- 
erhood of Man 9 

CHAPTER II. 

The Arrow is Beyond Thee, or the 
Mystery in Life - - - - 33 

CHAPTER III. 

Am I My Brother's Keeper? or Human 
Responsibility 73 

CHAPTER IV. 
Religion is the Basis of all Fraternity 107 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

1. Nature (Taylor) - - Frontispiece 

2. Morning of Life - - - - 33 

3. Noontime of Life ... 73 

4. Evening of Life - 107 * 

5. Night 139 ^ 



THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD AND 
THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN 



"Moral virtue delights in vigorous and beautiful 

conduct. ' ' — Hammerton. 

"A man can more easily burn down his own house 
than get rid of his prejudices." — Descartes. 

"Man cannot only see the truth, but repeat it; not 
only recognize the right, but conform to it, and not 
only appreciate beauty, but express it. In this he has 
the evidence of his kinship with the author of the true, 
the good and the beautiful. " — Lee. 

"Goodness, to be interesting, must be humble, modest, 
unassuming, not fond of show, not waiting for great 
and conspicuous occasions, but disclosing itself without 
labor and without design in pious and benevolent 
offices, so simple, so minute, so steady, so habitual, that 
they will carry a conviction of the singleness and 
purity of the heart from which they proceed." — Chan- 
ging. 

"The words which I speak unto you, they are Truth 
and they are Life." 



THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD AND 
THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 

I begin this address to yon, with a com- 
pendium of Odd Fellowship in America. 
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
was organized in Baltimore, April 26th, 
1819, by Thomas Wildey, a young English 
mechanic, and four others. Beginning with 
one lodge and five members, its march has 
been steadily onward and upward, that 
since 1830 there have been initiated into 
the subordinate lodges two million five 
hundred forty-four thousand one hundred 
and twenty members and a still larger 
number that received relief; many thou- 
sands of widowed families assisted, besides 
helping in many ways too trivial to incor- 
porate in this discourse this morning. Its 

membership is scattered over all the 
li 



12 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

states and territories of the United States 
and over the islands of the sea and all the 
old countries wherever man is found in a 
civilized state. Odd Fellowship stands not 
only first in numbers but first in charity 
and fraternity. 

I said at the outset that a brief epitome 
of the organization must suffice, as its his- 
tory cannot be told in this off-hand way and 
do justice to many important facts, that it 
has gathered in a march of four score years 
and four. But let me invite you to gather 
its true history from the lips of those little 
children in Odd Fellows' homes whose ten- 
der words will find a place in your hearts 
of deep sympathy ; that history no pen can 
write. You may also go and ask the wid- 
ows of deceased brothers or the aged and 
indigent members to tell you their experi- 
ences of the helpful moral influences and 
the comforts of life, that the organization 
has made possible for them to enjoy, and 



THE MYSTIC BBOTHEE. 13 

then return and give the history as it has 
been recorded in yonr own heart. 

Its purpose is to visit the sick, relieve 
the distressed, bury the dead, educate the 
orphan, and to care for the widow. It 
seeks to better qualify its members for life. 
It touches and improves directly the home. 
It makes better fathers and husbands, 
mothers, wives and daughters; it makes 
better citizens. In fact, "it is the only fra- 
ternal and benevolent order that recognizes 
woman a co-worker in its mission for relief 
of suffering humanity." A person over 
twenty-one years of age, in health and a 
believer in a Supreme Being, the Creator 
and Preserver of the Universe, is eligible 
to membership. 

Its Motto: Friendship, Love and 
Truth, are the everlasting ties that bind all 
as brothers. Upon this foundation are all 
of its beautiful temples constructed. 

We are here to-day to be reminded of the 



14 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

great principles that are at the very foun- 
dation of a great organization. One year 
ago yon were assembled to reiterate the 
teachings and yon did so, but to-day some 
of your ranks are broken by the absence 
of those brothers who were laid in the si- 
lent city of the dead; so let us be mindful 
of the principles and also revivify the pure 
traits of those who have gone before— it 
is only a step to the grave— in that step 
much may be accomplished— that it may be 
said the world is better off for us having 
lived. 

As we look about everything seems to 
speak the Brotherhood of Man and the 
Fatherhood of God. We see man's sublime 
position as compared with all other crea- 
tures, and great responsibility resting up- 
on him because the Supreme Being has so 
wonderfully endowed man. David said, "I 
am fearfully and wonderfully made, ' ' after 
he had formed all comparisons of every- 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 15 

thing on earth, he began to search the 
heavens for a likeness to man. In his utter 
distraction he spoke the words that have 
never been equaled in poetic beauty, ' ' The 
heavens declare the glory of God; and the 
firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day 
unto day uttereth speech, and night unto 
night sheweth knowledge. If I ascend up 
into heaven, thou art there." So great is 
man in the sight of all living beings and 
things, that he accepts the only attempted 
explanation of his creation as it is given 
in the Bible. 

A few years ago I heard a mighty orator 
give a mythological account of man's crea- 
tion that has remained with me ever since, 
although I am not able to give his exact 
words, and will therefore use my own to 
supply, that the thought will not be en- 
tirely lost. When the trinity or triune had 
completed its creation of all the transient 
and intransient, sentient and insentient, an- 



16 THE MYSTIC BBOTHER. 

imate and inanimate things of the universe, 
it met in council to answer the ponderous 
question, "Let us make man,"* but how!?? 

The Evening Star opened the window of 
her far-off Hesperian home and stood upon 
the balcony of her adamantine temple, in 
her robe of azure, with her crown of stars 
and her diadem of jewels, while all the 
constellations applauded her for her beau- 
ty, she said, l ' Make him like me, ' ' and the 
answer came "NO!" 

The fair Selene, the moon, the queen of 
the night, with her beautiful apparel, and 
her train of stars, rolled across the ceru- 
lean heavens, her soft light falling upon the 
mirror surface of the great deep, and re- 
fleeting like millions of diamonds, paused 
at the very throne and exclaimed, "Make 
him like me, ' ' the answer came i * NO ! ' ' 

Next Eos, with her rosy fingers, drew 
aside the azure curtains of the dawning 
morning, dressed in her silvery robe, crept 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 17 

over yonder eastern mountain top, lighting 
up the world with her beauty and with a 
halo about her, appeared before the throne 
and said, "Make him like me," again the 
answer was ' l NO ! • 9 

Then Helios, more beautiful than all the 
luminaries, appeared, and at her appear- 
ance the Evening Star turned pale and dis- 
appeared, the moon ashamed of herdimlight 
slipped back into the cavern of night, and 
Eos applauded her for her magnificence, 
and all the constellations were exuberant 
at her grandeur in equipment. "Ah!" 
beautiful Helios said, "Make him like 
me." "NO! Let us make man," but 
how??? "In our own image, after our own 
likeness ; and let them have dominion over 
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of 
the air, and over the cattle, and over all 
the earth, and over every creeping thing 
that creepeth upon the earth. ' ' The high- 
est endowment that man was given is not 



18 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

form or substance, neither flesh nor blood, 
but was given the impress of God, in his 
moral, intellectual and spiritual natures. 
Man has had dominion and authority over 
everything that was given him as an inher- 
itance from that time to the present. 

The attitude of God is infinite and of 
man finite, yet man's powers, through his 
exalted position in creation, is able to grasp 
the idea of God's divine purpose and de- 
sign in creation. 

We notice immediately the weight of this 
great proposition when we read "man 
shall have dominion or power over all ' ' and 
then look at man in his infancy; the babe 
in the swaddling clothes, perhaps the most 
helpless of all creatures; look at the plas- 
tic mind as it unfolds and develops into 
the gigantic strength of a master mind. Is 
it any wonder then that the psalmist 
should exclaim, "I am fearfully and won- 
derfully made, ,, or when comparing his 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEK. 19 

possible grandeur to the beauty of the 
heavens he said, "When I consider the 
heavens, the works of thy fingers, and the 
moon and stars which thou hast ordained : 
what is man, that thou art mindful of him! 
or the Son of man that thou visitest him! 
For thou hast made him a little lower than 
the angels, and hast crowned him with 
glory and honour. ' ' So wonderful and so 
great is the mind of man that it may be- 
come almost God-like; neither height nor 
depth can bound the mind ; with the astron- 
omer it reaches into the firmament and 
catches the velocity of the heavenly bodies 
and leaps from world to world as a bird 
flits from tree to tree. It goes down into 
the bosom of the earth and there examines 
the ribs of granite and lamellated veins of 
gold ; it returns again to earth with the ver- 
dict, "The heavens declare the glory of 
God, and the firmament sheweth forth his 
handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech 



20 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

and night unto night sheweth knowledge.' ' 
Friends, it is this power— mind— that 
makes us superior and leads us to correctly 
consider our duty to fellow man. 

Man has ever been from heathenism up 
to the present state of civilization a relig- 
ious being ; and has ever looked for l ' a far- 
off divine event to which the whole creation 
moves.' ' From the time men lived in 
caves to the time of the mound builders 
and Indians until the present, it has been 
man's desire to live beyond the boundaries 
of earth in realms yet unexplored. It is not 
true of any other creature. The poet says 
that all nature worships God, that " birds 
and beast, flowers and trees, streams and 
murmuring brooks, hills and dales, moun- 
tains and valleys all glorify their creator ; ' ' 
but they do not ; they are like pictures put 
upon the wall, they are to beautify this 
earthly home until we are ready to abide 
with the designer of all beauty forever. 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 21 

Friends, man's soul thirsts for drink from 
that clear flowing fountain. Jesus said in 
His wonderful discourse, Matt. 5:6: 
"Blessed are they who do hunger and 
thirst after righteousness; for they shall 
be filled, ' ' filled with living water and spir- 
itual food. The apostles said, i i That which 
we have seen and heard, declare we unto 
you, that ye also may have fellowship with 
us; and truly our fellowship is with the 
Father and His son Jesus Christ. ' ' 1 John, 
1 :3. Consequently all creatures that have 
not that power of faculty that calls for 
something not found in this life cannot 
worship God; and certainly inanimate be- 
ings, that are destitute of higher life can- 
not and do not worship God. Man only 
can worship God from his constitutional 
endowments. 

The Brotherhood of Man originated at 
the birth of the human race. That we are 
all brethren is true if we all eminated from 



22 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

the same Father over all. His word de- 
clares it unto you. Listen to his word, 
Matt. 33 :9 : ' l And call no man your father 
upon earth ; for one is your Father, which 
is in heaven. ' ' " One is your master, even 
Christ, and all ye are brethren." Again, 
' ' See that ye love one another with a pure 
heart fervently.' ' This is sufficient to 
show you the attitude we hold to each other. 
Let us not longer delay but launch out on 
the sea of love for humanity under the 
motto— Friendship, Love and Truth— that 
the world may be brought to that state 
"when one law shall bind all nations, 
tongues and creeds, and that law shall be 
the universal law of brotherhood." 

The innate attribute of man is shown in 
the practicability of the law of love. The 
brilliant young lawyer came to Jesus and 
said, ' ' Who is my neighbor 1 ' ' Jesus made 
clear the position of the lawyer by his illus- 
tration of the man who fell among thieves 



THE MYSTIC BBOTHEK. 23 

and the attitude the Priest, Levite and the 
Samaritan held toward him. Let us picture 
the man going from Jerusalem to Jericho, 
the road is rough and many cliffs, caves 
and fissures are along its sides. He comes 
to a place in the road where a small clump 
of shrubbery shields some dingy rock from 
the view of the passerby ; here also are se- 
cluded the robbers; they watch with the 
vigilance of a wild beast their prey, and 
suddenly pounce down upon him. They 
take his money and leave him unconscious 
and bleeding from the wounds inflicted; 
alone, to die, away from home, friends and 
loved ones, alone. In a short time a priest 
passes. He sees the unfortunate man, but 
no assistance is offered. Perhaps he would 
be too long detained from the sanctuary. 
His duty you will no doubt say was to ad- 
minister help as a true servant of God ; but 
he did not. Next there comes a Levite. He 
came and looked upon him; then perhaps 



24 THE MYSTIC BKOTHEE. 

saying to himself, "I must hasten on as 
my business needs me," or he might say, 
"If I assist him the robbers will attack me, 
for they may be hiding nearby in the 
brush.' ' Another stranger comes along 
presently and seeing his fellow man, rides 
over, dismounts and soon discovers that he 
is not quite dead. He applies oil and wine 
and binds up his wounds, puts him on his 
ignoble animal and brings him to an inn 
and takes care of him. "And on the mor- 
row when he departed he took out two 
pence and gave them to the host, and said 
unto him, take care of him; and what- 
soever thou spendest more, when I come 
again I will repay thee." Which now of 
these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto 
him that fell among the thieves? He that 
shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus 
unto him, ' ' Go thou and do likewise. ' ' 

As Odd Fellows we are neighbor to every 
human being on the face of the earth 



THE MYSTIC BEOTHEE. 25 

whether in China or Japan, or Australia, 
Africa, Europe or America, wherever man 
is found who needs help and to whomso- 
ever we may render service. It is well set 
forth in the phrase, "non ministrari sed 
ministrare, ' ' not to be ministered to, but to 
minister unto. Such deeds will show our in- 
terpretation of our motto— Friendship, 
Love and Truth. 

I would not forget to-day that noble band 
of co-workers who have stood so nobly in 
every trial of need and administered their 
help with loving devotion to the distressed. 
As woman stood by the Saviour and an- 
nointed his feet with costly ointment, and 
the odor filled the room and the fragrance 
of that deed went to the uttermost parts ot 
the earth, so equally meritorious was the 
loving devotion of that fair sex when the 
decree had gone out that Hebrew male 
children should be destroyed, some were 
saved by only a mother's devotion toward 



26 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

her greatest gift, her progeny. Yonder 
floated the little ark made of rushes, slime 
and pitch; within was the little dimple- 
cheeked, goodly child, Moses. The little 
ark floated for many a day and night 
among the " flags by the river's brink.' ' 
But still more beautifully does the picture 
appear when we look upon the bank and see 
the loyalty of that sister faithfully dis- 
charging her duty through the livelong day 
under the rays of a tropical sun, patiently, 
patiently, watching the little brother, who 
if spared shall rise up and lead a mighty 
nation. The hour of deepest anxiety 
comes. Pharaoh's daughter came with 
her maidens to the river to bathe herself 
and seeing the ark sent for it. When she 
opened the ark and saw little Moses, the 
fountain of her heart was touched and she 
took the child to raise. The sister very 
prudently said, " Shall I go and call thee 
a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 27 

may nurse the child for thee ? ' ' May such 
fidelity and loyalty never be dwarfed in 
the heart of womanhood. 

Brothers and sisters, I feel that my task 
is not complete if I cannot infuse into your 
minds the thought of our brother, when he 
said, "This is my commandment, that ye 
love one another as I have loved you. 
Greater love hath no man than this, that a 
man lay down his life for his friends. ' ' Per- 
mit me, friends, to place this lesson so viv- 
idly before you that it may ever remain in- 
delibly upon your minds. 

Years ago there was a family living by 
the seashore in a beautiful cottage. The 
family consisted of a father, mother and 
two sons. They were sailors. The father 
one day sailed for a distant port, the ship 
floundered and sunk, and all on board were 
lost. The elder of the two sons started up- 
on his perilous journey for India ; the time 
for his return was already past due. They 



28 THE MYSTIC BEOTHEE. 

did not hear from him, and the mother and 
brother patiently waited for his return ever 
hopeful. One day they saw in the paper 
that a ship had sunk near India, and 
among the names of those who had per- 
ished was one whose name was written just 

George . Now they were sure that 

he, too, had gone into the vortex of the 
sea. They sat one evening in front of their 
cottage and watched the angry waves re- 
dound and presently the son exclaimed, 
' ' Mother ! See that vessel yonder ! ' ' And 
getting his field glass he saw it was stranded 
and high up in the rigging of the mast 
was one waving to some distant aid. The 
mother looked, then placing her head in her 
hands, and sobbing as she thought of the 
saddened homes there would be that night, 
and of her own once happy home now over- 
shadowed by a gloom of despondency. Sud- 
denly the son leaped to his feet and said, 
' ' Mother, I '11 rescue that boy tonight, ' ' and 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 29 

in spite of her entreaty lie left her and as 
his boat rode npon the crest of the wave 
then down in the trough, then npon the 
crest and down again in the trough, until 
her gazing eyes could no longer behold it. 
Several hours passed. She picked up the 
field glass and looking noticed that the man 
in the rigging of the vessel was gone. She 
continued looking toward the ship and af- 
ter a time she noticed the little boat return- 
ing; now there were two in it. The little 
boat was soon brought to shore. Without 
fastening it the son, in the greatest ecstasy, 
exclaimed, "Mother! Mother! It is 
brother George who was lost and is found, 
who was dead and is alive.' ' 

Our motto embodies man's needs and in 
helping in charitable acts we are often 
doubly rewarded. No greater lesson of this 
can be found than that one of David and 
Jonathan, whose hearts, like the three 
links, were "knit together." 



30 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

You will all agree that the sad thing in 
life is the separation, or the giving up of 
that which we possess for that which we 
hope for, beyond the misty veil. The 
mother's heart was saddened, not at the 
thought that the lost would be found, but 
the cost to find her lost one. It required 
the price of life. The lesson that we all 
ought to learn is the willingness to pay the 
price. To withhold it is selfishness. To 
pay it is benevolence. It is a "charity that 
hopeth all things ; believeth all things. ' ' 

The world has waited long for a univer- 
sal brotherhood. In every clime it has 
given signs of a belief in a common Father- 
hood. It remains with mankind to demon- 
strate that the wave of brotherhood in the 
sea of life is flowing on, and on, gathering 
new material, like a wave on the sea flows 
on, and on, gathering new atoms of water 
by affinity and combination; so man by 
compact and love fulfills the law, "Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,' ' or the 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 31 

golden rule, "Whatsoever ye would that 
men should do to you, do ye even so to 
them. ,, The spirit of this law and rule is 
at work now as never before. Men are giv- 
ing sympathy to the benighted, and reliev- 
ing the distressed, and caring for the sick ; 
that everywhere philanthropy is bringing 
the bond of equality and the spirit of broth- 
erhood. The long night of human fever 
has passed with the mist of morning into 
the black depths of oblivion ; and the ' ' balm 
of Gilead" has been poured on the frailties 
of humanity, and the tonic of love has been 
administered to the oppressed and down- 
trodden, until all are resuscitated by the 
glorious hope of a universal brotherhood. 
When it shall be said of each one : 

"He liveth long who liveth well; 

All else is being flung away. 
He liveth longest, who can tell, 

Of true things truly done each day. ' ' 

Let us then strive to bring about a uni- 
versal brotherhood. 







MORNING OF LIFE. 



'THE ARROW IS BEYOND THEE,' 
OR THE MYSTERY IN LIFE. 



"Keen are the arrows 

Of that silver sphere, 
Whose intense lamp narrows 
In the white dawn clear, 
Until we hardly see, we feel that it is there." 

—Shelley. 

"Of mystic beauty, dreamy grace, 
No rounded art the lack supplies; 

Unskilled the subtle lines to trace, 
Or softer shades of Nature's face, 

I view her common forms with unanointed eyes. ' ' 

— Whittier. 

"Presumptuous man! the reason wouldst thou find 
Why formed so weak, so little, and so blind? 
First, if thou canst, the harder reason guess, 
Why formed no weaker, blinder, and no less? 
Ask of thy mother earth why oaks are made 
Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade." 
— Pope's Essay on Man. 

"The shallows murmur, but the deeps are dumb." 
—Sir Walter Raleigh. 



"THE ARROW IS BEYOND THEE." 

We are all constituted very much alike. 
We have our moods that makes everything 
reveal to us the shadow, and then there 
breaks a beam of light that dispels the 
gloom and prepares us to gather strength 
that we may resuscitate. There has never 
been a human life without the spell of light 
and darkness, joy and sadness; so it is 
within our reach, to grasp the meaning of 
our subject, and the intense anxiety of 
David as he awaited the signal that would 
mean "weal or woe" to him. 

Our lives are very often hidden to our 
fellow-man, because we are waiting for a 
sign. It need not be a great one— the 
arrow was small but carried a world of 
meaning in its flight. A slight distress is 
unheeded by the mass of mankind, the sole 
purpose seems to be to gather furniture 

35 



36 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

for this world and not gather jewels for the 
crown of the next. If we are running after 
the arrow, as the lad, we will not see the 
great purpose of our existence in the midst 
of splendid opportunities for benefiting 
mankind. The lad had a pleasure in being 
permitted to run after the arrows, and so 
we take pleasure in pursuing a course that 
has back of each motive, mind and heart. 
We call it " Fraternity. ' ' It could not be 
given a more suitable term and be so com- 
prehensive. It means far more than can be 
revealed, or conveyed by words to another 
mind. It is friendship that grows out of 
the past into the life of the present. It can- 
not live only where there is life; it is the 
living principle that expiates all, of all 
mankind. Friendship strikes the harmo- 
nious cord in man, through hospitality,— 
but if it be reached by a temporal gift— 
the gift itself is the arrow, and the great 
purpose hidden from the world is the lesson 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 37 

that can only be understood when a similar 
compact is formed such as Jonathan and 
David devised. 

In order to appreciate the topic offered 
for your consideration to-day, it will be 
necessary for you to recall the deepest se- 
cret in your experience of human life, if 
only you could do so. But in all of your 
research and thinking, nothing will reach 
deeper into the breast of mankind than 
the elixir of friendship. A man will gently 
open his heart to a friend, when the powers 
that be are unable to bring forth a thought 
by force. Why is it 1 I have asked myself 
this question many times, and in the last 
analysis, it occurred to me, that every life 
has a secret, and in finding the secret in 
others, we lay the net-work that would ap- 
ply well to self; but find each time, that 
"the arrow is just beyond thee." You 
may recall the story in one of the old read- 
ers, how a certain warrior secreted him- 



38 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

self in a cave, to avoid his pursuers. Dur- 
ing the night a spider constructed its deli- 
cate net-work over the mouth of the cave, 
each fine fiber adjusted in geometrical rela- 
tion to the other, that when morning came, 
and the pursuers approached the mouth of 
the cave, they observed the net-work from 
the spider's loom, glistening in the sun- 
light, and waving gracefully under the 
kisses of the gentle breeze, without a rent 
in it. This suggested to the pursuers that 
a man could not enter the cave at that aper- 
ture without rending the spider 's web ; so it 
was determined not to destroy the delicate 
home as nothing would be gained by it. 
Afterwards it was discovered that the ob- 
ject was beyond the web. So it is with 
mankind, some apparently insignificant 
object baffles human wisdom. We are at 
an utter loss in finding out why the arrows 
go just beyond, so many times. In all vo- 
cations of life it is true. A tiny nerve in 



THE MYSTIC BEOTHEK. 39 

the human being is disturbed and a few 
days elapse, the pain becomes more violent, 
a physician is summoned, the cause is not 
detected, and the whole body is thrown into 
disorder. It is true, it had a small be- 
ginning, but was far-reaching in its ending. 
So we as Odd Fellows are prone to believe 
that a kindly turn in the nick of time may 
frustrate a great difficulty and help our fel- 
low beings from falling into the pits along 
the path of life. Herein is the secret, man 
has always been his own worst foe. To 
arrest him from self-destruction, by hurl- 
ing to him the life-line of assistance, gives 
to all the joy of living. A right which 
should ever be borne in mind. Justinian 
denned this duty as ' ' a constant and urgent 
wish to render to every one that which is 
his own, ' ' to swallow whatever there may 
be of selfishness in us, that we may con- 
tribute to the greater need. This is love, 
as well as charity, that "suffereth long, 



40 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

and is kind; vaunteth not itself, is not 
puffed up, doth not behave unseemly, seek- 
eth not her own." It is also the grand 
principle that is able to fathom human na- 
ture. 

We know that " there is nothing hid, 
which shall not be manifested— neither 
was anything kept secret, but that it should 
come abroad,' ' for the three virtues that 
weave the strong texture about mystic 
brothers is lived openly before the world, 
as the deeds of David and his friend were 
open to the vigilance of the lad, and to the 
world. No sane person will believe other- 
wise. If any man have ears to hear, let 
him hear, or eyes to see let him see ; but 
perchance he hear not or see not, let him 
blame himself, for the fact is revealed to 
as many as hear and see. For every life has 
its great secret, and the object of which 
that secret is the subject, is either friend- 
ship, or love, or truth. These are made 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEK. 41 

prominent in each nature just as the mind 
interprets them or as the eyes behold the 
rainbow and all the colors dissolve into one, 
and it is very prominent, while to another 
person, another color might be most prom- 
inent. 

Therefore when the three all comprehen- 
sive virtues are thrown into any life it will 
reveal its secret, as naturally and as uncon- 
sciously as the lungs receive the unseen air. 
So man can know little of man until he is 
able to look into his soul : This cannot be 
accomplished without a plight of faith, 
indicating that each has trodden the same 
weary path in search of sympathy, as the 
poet has worded it : 

"And we must hear their lonely cry, 
Before their sun of life is set— 

Lord, bring thou our duty nigh, 
Lest we forget ! Lest we forget ! ' ' 

No brother who has received the great les- 
son once will forget it; his impression of 



42 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

it will be as worm-wood to the taste. It is 
for this reason that distress or want ap- 
peals so forcibly to a brother observing it 
in another. He will do all that is within 
his power to relieve a worthy one in trou- 
ble. When yon see the great mass of man- 
kind rush on in a spirit of selfishness, 
hardly taking time to pass-the-time-of-day, 
that nothing short of a powerful lesson 
could detain such a person or persons long 
enough to stop and inquire, what assist- 
ance they may render to one in need. Such 
lessons have been in existence since trouble 
and woe fastened upon the human family, 
but the multitude has expelled the idea of 
relief, and a great solitude has intervened 
between the few who have stood in each age 
as the great benefactors of mankind, until 
this enlightened age has drawn a multitude 
about its principles of virtue like the 
galaxy of stars in the blue dome. 

The practical phase of our discourse is 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 43 

found in the spirit of benevolence, a work 
of all, in their "associated capacities." 
The strength of any institution is measured 
by its power to "reduce to practice" the 
obligations upon which the organization 
stands. As Oddfellowship has prepared 
only a programme for earthly life, we look 
to see it fulfilled only upon earth. All 
that is practicable in this life for the wel- 
fare of another, is incorporated in the high 
virtues which we hold, and is at least one 
of the doctrines of Oddfellowship. But I 
would not have you understand that some 
are independent and others dependent. 
This is not true. We are all so adapted 
in this life, that whatever we attain, it is 
by an exertion on our part, to bring forth 
the best of our faculties, to accomplish a 
given end. We are all dependent and 
always will be while on earth. We set out 
to accomplish a great work or an invention 
and reach an unforeseen end, which course 



44 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

was not thought out in detail or step by 
step from the beginning to the end. It was 
some hidden power that guided from the 
beginning to the end. To be independent, 
would mean to be without co-laborers, or 
without co-operation or to be as an "egg 
all contained in itself, ' ' or to receive no as- 
sistance, or to give no assistance. This is a 
state impossible for any human being to 
attain on earth. The lodge reaches the 
mass of mankind by its aim to benefit, all 
who may possibly meet with misfortune in 
the fierce competition in life. 

In the ordinary observation of the ben- 
efits of a society, it is measured by the 
social and financial aid that it may render 
one, while in health as well as in sickness. 
This is entirely a false conception of Odd- 
fellowship, but the brotherhood is drawn 
together by a confidence in mankind, to 
strengthen one another's loyalty in the 
great principles of Friendship, Love, and 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 45 

Truth. And still in part it is true, many 
are drawn by the feature and nature of 
the Society, to fulfill its purpose of caring 
for the ills of its members. At one time 
this feature was not so dominant, as at 
present. The church for a time rendered 
the desired aid, which has been almost 
entirely abandoned by it. Why is it that 
men will turn to the various orders for 
comfort in time of deep sorrow 1 I answer 
because they know they will receive aid and 
not be turned away. Once the church filled 
this much needed demand but alas! no 
more. 

Then there is a suffering that is a great 
boon to all,— it sweetens the life and acts 
unconsciously as a tonic upon those who 
have slight troubles to bear. It makes a 
beautiful impression upon us of patience. 
"A life without suffering would be like a 
picture without shade. The pets of Nature, 
who do not know what suffering is, and 



46 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

cannot realize it, have always a certain 
rawness, like foolish landsmen who laugh 
at the terrors of the ocean, because they 
have neither experienced enough to know 
what those terrors are, nor brains enough 
to imagine them. ' ' From this class, I have 
often gleaned my best lesson in life,— for 
they have all generally had much expe- 
rience in health, and are not selfish in 
kindly offering advice to all that will heed. 
In fact, friends, it occurs to me, that we will 
never be able to fully appreciate the three 
virtues until we have been brought low in 
disease and have had new glasses to see 
through. You know that men have not the 
natures to envy those who suffer, but rather 
envy those who are in health, and pros- 
perous in gathering goods for the present 
dwelling. But such desires are like days 
that have no clouds, and hence the beau- 
tiful pictures that are so often revealed to 
the eye, with half cloud and half sunlight, 



THE MYSTIC BEOTHEK. 47 

just before or after a storm, are lost when 
days are clear and bright,— and many a life 
has but half lived, that is without the expe- 
rience of sickness and health. There are 
virtues drawn from these lives,— they are 
willing ever to do something for others, and 
in turn others are touched with a throb of 
pity,* that retaliates with equal compensa- 
tion. A lady that was partially paralyzed, 
in her limbs, was continually doing for 
others. W$ would all be ashamed of our 
meagre helps if we stopped to consider the 
disadvantages of being handicapped that 
locomotion failed us, and while we are in 
health we are only good to ourselves. Still, 
friends, I can only see that "the arrow is 
beyond us ' ' in looking upon these lives and 
seeing how much joy there still remains 
with all the impediments. 

We will consider for a brief period the 
counter-poise, Health. It is to be hoped, 
however, that all may begin life with 



48 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

strong, vigorous, healthful physiques. The 
first few years will lay a splendid founda- 
tion to build on, with noble principles. Yet 
how uncertain is the promise that it will 
continue so. Or that it will be a blessing. 
How boastful and arrogant does it make 
men; they will carry their lives in their 
"hands" as some say, with a haughtiness 
that almost defies the scythe of time,— for- 
getting that "man is as a shadow that 
fleeth and continueth not" or as "the grass 
of the field, it is cut down and withereth 
away. ' ' Health is a blessing for all to de- 
sire and is often very much abused. Still it 
is a virtue, which puts elasticity into the 
step and a glow of freshness into the cheeks, 
like a full blown flower in the early morn- 
ing, and energy into the whole body, that 
the toil of day is performed with a grace 
and ease, as though man had been made a 
machine. It gives him a peculiar power of 
mind;— a force of character, a determina- 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 49 

tion and will-power to discover unrevealed 
powers. If used justly, it will honor the 
Creator of all Good and offer gratitude of 
heart to God. If the proverb has any virtue 
in it;— then, " every man is a friend to him 
that giveth gifts," like as Abraham was 
called, "a friend of God." And truly 
health is a gift. Its value cannot be esti- 
mated in dollars or in commercial measure 
of temporal things. It has been sought by 
wealth in balmy climates ; in sunny islands, 
environed and fretted and adorned by twin- 
ing vines and beds of flowers :— alas ! it was 
not there and still it was there. It becomes 
more valuable as it begins to slip away;— 
we then begin to see that ' ' the arrow is be- 
yond thee. ' ' We have only touched on two 
qualities of life, which set before us a well 
denned illustration of the hidden power 
that we are continually receiving, disbursed 
from a bountiful source for our own wel- 
fare ; little heeded only as the supply wanes. 



50 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

We cannot be true to self and others, if 
we fail to present at this time the lesson of 
life :— we have looked at it in part from the 
plane of the average human as he sees it 
by discriminating between pain and pleas- 
ure or suffering and health,— but there is a 
higher view introduced by the Son of God ; 
by which we may form a compact as impreg- 
nable as perfection itself. His mission was 
first, to set forth our relationship to God, and 
to each other. Secondly the future bliss of 
man as a reward for so doing. In the first 
point,— Man, for a sweep of four thousand 
years could see only as his talents guided 
him ;— one point at a time. The poet looked 
upon the tree and saw it in poetic measure ; 
the scientist looked upon the tree and saw 
it as it contributed to science ; the lumber- 
man saw the tree from a commercial point, 
—it had no secrets that he could see in 
verse, neither did it have any science, that 
he could see; but it had so many feet of 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 51 

lumber, because he saw it through a com- 
mercial eye. So we learn in the walk of 
life that none of us see alike, nor think 
alike, nor do alike, for there are many 
places to fill and it takes all to make up the 
great fabric of the world. 

When Jesus Christ came to earth He was 
able to see in a universal sense,— He could 
see all science, all poetry, all philosophy, all 
art, all temporal and spiritual needs, and 
give immediately the great principles to 
interpret, both the hidden and revealed 
truths. To elucidate, He was the first to 
bring the theory and practice of the broth- 
erhood of man and the Fatherhood of God, 
to the world. Men have never regarded the 
rights of their fellow-beings so justly, as 
when they have measured their rights and 
acts by His universal law,— "Therefore all 
things whatsoever ye would that men 
should do to you, do ye even so to them ; for 
this is the law and the prophets.' ' Not to 



52 THE MYSTIC BROTHEK. 

lead men by human argument but by divine 
love; not by sentiment but by principle; 
that men may not only have a present joy 
but an immortal happiness. To see the fu- 
ture condition of our race and depict it, 
that it will unfold exactly as stated, re- 
quired a prophetic eye. Each generation 
has been crying out humanities ' need, since 
the great prophet portrayed the dim pic- 
ture of man, surrounded by a multiplicity 
of evils, from which he could only rise by 
a compact with his fellow-man. He was 
obliged therefore to form a close relation 
in principles of disinterested love. A com- 
bination that gives strength to the union; 
—as one fiber of hemp is easily broken but 
uniting several gives great strength and 
endurance; so several associated in the 
same capacity will give it an unmeasured 
power. 

Let us carry the idea of strength in com- 
bination,— as it increases, its influence ex- 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 53 

pands proportionately:— a life begins on 
earth, with three gifts,— life itself, a pur- 
pose, time. It is the hope of every life 
to accomplish the highest result or bring 
forth the best product, from these three 
gifts. I ask you, how would the orphan 
child reach the result if unassisted? Bar- 
ring sickness, an orphan could not rise to 
any eminence, unless the generosity of hu- 
manity was extended— the tender feelings 
of man to man, have brought the glorious 
institutions,— that in part take the place 
of parental care:— but how much personal- 
ity is lost in the tender years of life, by 
being reared in orphanages will never be 
known and all that is gained by it will not 
be known. It reveals a mystery— "the 
arrow is beyond us. ' ' 

In the second subdivision, we find the 
purpose in life is to do "good." A disin- 
terested goodness, as the old worthies in 
the Holy Book,— seem every time we look 



54 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

into their characters, to challenge our lives 
to emulate their examples of hospitality. 
When we pass in review that equally 
worthy band of women, in many respects 
better adapted to the work of caring for 
others in their manifold demands, because 
the mothers have learned in the school of 
" experience ' ' the panacea:— we have not 
made the progress that we should have 
made; having had advantage, in that we 
have access to the experiences of those 
who have preceded us. But I would not 
disparage the vast amount of kindness 
bestowed upon those in need. I have seen 
them watching with a sick brother or sis- 
ter by day and by night, whiling away the 
hours that the afflicted slept; keeping a 
vigilance upon the hour-glass that direc- 
tions be followed to a nicety as no other 
would do as patiently. 

There is much in the interpretation of 
goodness. It has an influence, that is 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEE. 55 

omnipotent in this life ; and touches other 
lives with a sense of duty and responsi- 
bility, that quickens them in fulfilling their 
mission. Goodness will ever draw sym- 
pathy,— and sympathy will lift the mind 
from its own infirmity,— to the infirmity 
of a fellow-being. As we are lead to see 
in a picture slightly dimmed by the dust 
of centuries,— which still reveals the real- 
ities and sets forth the human-nature as it 
was then, and I doubt not would be again, 
if the scene should be re-enacted. The 
picture is limited by Jerusalem on the one 
side and by Jericho on the other:— one of 
the two remaining sides is blotted and 
marred by human weakness ; that the artist 
painted the land-marks as thieves and rob- 
bers; on the remaining side the shadows 
are changing into light-gray, with two mov- 
ing " Specters' ' turning from some object, 
(apparently of little importance) which is 
the central object around which the per- 



56 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

spective is drawn:— Here a brilliant ray 
reveals it all; a certain Samaritan drew 
aside the curtain of selfishness and por- 
trayed his faith in humanity by rendering 
assistance to one overcome in the walk of 
life and about to die. If we should now 
be ensnared by the treachery of the world, 
I believe there would, by the Providence 
of God, come a Samaritan, who would bind 
up our wounds and supply us with the nec- 
essary attention until our difficulties would 
be so adjusted that as mercy shown us in 
a moment most auspicious, we would also 
have the heart to follow the old adage, 
1 ' Go thou and do likewise. ' ' 

There is a strong example of faith in 
the generosity of humanity, which is more 
modern than the former ; it is as I remem- 
ber it, by Hammerton in ' ' Intellectual 
Life"— A young man who had been hurt 
in a lead mine, was so crippled that he was 
obliged to remain in his bed. ' ' In the win- 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 57 

ters, however, the diseased limb gave him 
prolonged agony,— to avoid the months of 
torture,— he had himself put in the rail- 
way car and sent off in his bed, to Edin- 
burgh, sleeping in a waiting-room on the 
way. There was no one to attend him, but 
he trusted, not vainly, to the humanity of 
strangers, ' ' illustrating the faith that man 
has in man. There were times when men 
were charitable to the masses, but the time 
is now, when men are charitable 
to the individual cases coming be- 
fore their observation. To-day mil- 
lions of dollars are expended upon 
unfortunates. It is not, that they were 
not seen formerly but the interpretation, 
"A good man out of the good treasure of 
the heart bringeth forth good things,"— 
is becoming more and more practicable. 
The old adages are giving way to better 
things. You all remember the fear that 
prompted gifts in former years, how the 



58 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

Good old people use to say if a mendicant 
came to the door and asked for a meal,— 
' ' give him to eat for I have children and 
I want to treat some mother's child as I 
would like to have my own treated if they 
should come to need. ,, Every act then 
was colored by apparitions of hope or 
despair, depending largely upon the 
thought, was it for good or bad? With 
the superstitious idea that the future has 
something in store for me, and my pros- 
perity or adversity shall be fixed by the 
answer I make to all present appeals. The 
poet has given a beautiful stanza that will 
remove clouds of gloom and brush aside 
the doubt or fear, giving us the brighter 
reason for doing all good—, 

"For a' that and a' that, 
It 's coming yet, for a ' that, 

That man to man, the warP o'er, 
Shall brothers be for a' that." 

Now men give because, "it is more 
blessed to give than to receive. ' ' 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEE. 59 

"So man, who here seems principal alone, 
Perhaps acts second to some sphere 

unknown, 
Touches some wheel, or verges to some 

goal; 
'Tis but a part we see, and not a whole. ' ' 

The faith that brought the old sages to 
form compacts, that the battle of life could 
be more successfully waged, had no doubt 
been tensified by the lesson, "in union 
there is strength;" and the fundamental 
truths that drew them then, are still draw- 
ing men with ever increasing interest. Like 
a family, all members of it are attached by 
love— and the great world is but one fam- 
ily united by this bond— "Love the Lord 
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
mind, and with all thy soul, and with all 
thy strength, and thy neighbor as 
thyself," what more powerful influ- 
ence could operate upon the indi- 
vidual to arouse him to the performance 



60 THE MYSTIC BROTHEK. 

of his practical duty? The faith that first 
brought men together, was their observa- 
tion of nature, from whence they gleaned 
the facts of power in union. In human 
life, the philosopher says, "the best way 
to represent to life the manifold use of 
friendship is to cast and see how many 
things there are which a man cannot do 
himself,"— uniting mankind upon some 
basic principles that will ever engender 
harmony as they are lived and practiced, 
are the only bonds necessary to unite all 
as they unite a particular family. 

In a family we see each member espe- 
cially adapted to a certain work; no two 
are alike in their endowments, as "two 
stars keep not their motion in one sphere ' ' 
—so no two persons have the same ability, 
even in the same profession:— unite these 
several gifts and there is a unit of power. 
In order to form such a relation there must 
be virtues for which all have a common 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 61 

affinity. This has been discovered in the 
moral sphere as it has also been manifested 
in the spiritual sphere,— in the moral 
sphere, it is revealed in the three virtues, 
—Faith, Hope and Charity. These form 
the bond upon which the social and relig- 
ious world may unite. They inspire hon- 
esty, encourage sincerity, and foster piety, 
the virtues, that are immediately the pil- 
lars and foundation of all Morality. In 
this trinity is found the "one thing thou 
lackest" which the Good Master reminded 
the rich young ruler of, when he came to 
Him, and would gladly have the Master 
pronounce him perfect in his attitude 
toward his fellow-beings. When we come 
to analyze this trinity, we cannot find any 
virtue to substitute, that will when united, 
penetrate so far into human nature, and 
fathom so completely all of the desires, 
wants and needs of mankind. No cord 
will ever sound a sweeter note in all the 



62 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

archives of the human heart than the 
reward of this trinity,— which is virtue. 

"Not to scatter bread and gold, 
Goods and raiment bought and sold, 
But to hold fast this simple sense, 
And speak the speech of innocence, 
And with hand and body and blood 
To make his bosom-counsel good, 
For he that feeds men serveth few, 
He serves all who dares be true." 

In the next step I shall call your atten- 
tion to the Great Mystery in all things and 
especially in human life. Who among us 
has not in childhood days wandered in the 
majestic forest and beheld the beauty and 
splendor of the different species of trees, 
or examined closely the various adorn- 
ments as the bark, buds and leaves? We 
saw perhaps a flower in our wandering and 
saw each tiny organ and fiber so gracefully 
adjusted, the tints so beautifully blended, 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 63 

that we were struck with amazement, to 
find that some magic power had propor- 
tioned and perfected all. We have thought 
often that back of all organism and life, 
there was and is concealed a deep mystery. 
Then we could not rise so high in thoughts 
as now, or reason quite so accurately; but 
then as now we saw in proportion, the 
perfect designer. The poet has in part, 
seen the magnitude of nature's work and 
that, that mind cannot perceive he assigns 
to the Infinite mind of him who did "all 
things well," in the following words,— 

"Many things impossible to thought 
Have been by need to full perfection 
brought. ' ' 

The mystery in grafting trees of 
different kinds always seemed to have 
the deepest mystery attached to it,— 
because it bettered the fruit and 
in many cases shortened or length- 
ened the time of maturing the fruit; 



64 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

—in other cases, some trees have produced 
several different varieties on the same 
tree. We can hardly wonder at the arrow 
going beyond us in human life, if in nature 
we see every day a mystery and are not 
able to detect its secret. There is a mys- 
tery that is ephemeral, we find a mushroom 
and examine it; we observe the stem and 
cap, beneath the cap we see the lamellated 
folds so delicately and so symmetrically 
arranged, that it brings a shudder of awe 
over us when we think that the magic 
power has wrought this in a single night. 
Then we look a little further in our 
research for the mystery in things and 
come upon a nodule of stone, with a little 
hesitancy we crush it to find the secret of 
its formation, what is revealed to us, a 
number of fragments and particles? Yes 
and the mystery disappeared with the 
crushing thereof. 
We are not baffled by continual reversals, 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEE. 65 

neither are we going to cease our pursuit 
after the secret and mystery that is so 
prominent in everything about us, for it 
would take away the incentive in human 
life. 

Let us go into a natural cave, observing 
the apparently wildly formed figures, that 
bedeck the walls, which seem to have been 
but recently repaired and frescoed by 
nature's artist. At the entrance we notice 
many huge and ugly bats passing before us 
in their flight to some dark and grewsome 
crevice, where they will not be disturbed 
by unwelcome intruders. As we pass fur- 
ther and further into the grotto, we see 
how naturally it has been divided into 
rooms ; some have large calcareous forma- 
tions, that from the glare of our tapers, 
look like icicles, on the points of each are 
little drops of water that glisten and 
sparkle like many diamonds, producing the 
richest and most resplendent effect that 



66 THE MYSTIC BKOTHER. 

has ever been my fortune to behold; in 
some adjoining cavern the gurgitation of 
percolating water is heard, until presently 
we come upon a little stream that has worn 
a groove into the rocks over which it has 
run for many decades; it sparkles and 
murmurs, as onward it goes ; here we stop 
and reflect:— the mystery that God has 
written beneath the surface of the earth, 
where the great mass of mankind cannot 
see it, has a purpose but now "we see 
through a glass darkly,' ' the scientist, the 
poet, the artist cannot find anywhere bet- 
ter thought producers, or subject-objects 
for the canvass. We must all admit its 
purpose is just beyond our conception of 
it. 

In human life it is as great a mystery 
to know what is life itself. "This life's 
mystery. ' '— " One generous feeling— one 
great thought— one deed 

Of good, ere night, would make life 
longer seem 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEE. 67 

Than if each year might number a 
thousand days,— 

Spent as is this by nations of man- 
kind.' ' 

But the very reason that man has the 
power to think and convey to his fellow- 
being his ideas, makes thought itself a mys- 
tery to mankind. Each step in every voca- 
tion of life sees mystery in the one to be 
taken. 

I remember a story that illustrates very 
beautifully the lesson that I am trying to 
lead you to see, that mystery in every- 
thing is the incentive that drives the igno- 
rant and the wise on in their pursuit, and 
the one with intellect cannot interpret 
more of it than the other, for it will not re- 
veal its secret to either. 

The story is told of a philosopher, when 
a little fellow, attending the country 
school, he would frequently on Friday 
afternoons speak the little rhyme: 



68 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

"Twinkle, twinkle little star, 
How I wonder what yon are, 
Up above the world so high 
Like a diamond in the sky. ' ' 

And all the little lads would laugh and 
even the wise teacher would smile one of 
those not infrequent, meaningless, blank 
smiles. From this school later he went to 
a higher graded school, carrying in his 
memory the rhyme that so often had pro- 
duced laughter and embarrassed him. Af- 
ter succeeding in passing through the pre- 
scribed courses of several schools and a 
college and a university, he entered on a 
voyage on the sea of life as a philosopher ; 
thirty years passed down the Aeon of 
time, when the desire came to him to see 
the old familiar faces of childhood, and he 
returned to the home place of his early 
life. Many of the faces that once greeted 
the friend had long, long ago made their 
demise; those remaining remembered but 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 69 

faintly the pranks of those early years. To 
the philosopher the old landmarks had 
changed, the log schoolhouse still re- 
mained. One evening as the neighbors and 
their children gathered in the little old 
schoolhouse for an entertainment, they 
asked the philosopher to speak to them. 
After jesting a while with the children, 
he said: "I have come back, friends of 
former years, to relate to yon the impres- 
sions I received in this little school thirty 
years ago. I have never gone beyond 
them. You laughed then, but now, after 
passing through the schools of learning 
and, far better than they, the school of 
experience I offer to you the thought of 
life: 

" Twinkle, twinkle little star, 
How I wonder what you are, 
Up above the world so high 
Like a diamond in the sky." 

All these years I have looked up into the 



70 THE MYSTIC BKOTHEE. 

Heavens and have not been able to solve 
the MYSTERY— I come in the evening of 
life to say to you that, in childhood I spoke 
the words in this old building— that to- 
night I recited to you with all the thought 
and philosophy of manhood; with thirty 
years of experience in research, and I am 
as far from the solution of the mystery 
now as then. Each year impresses upon 
me: 

1 ' Life is real ! Life is earnest ! 
And the grave is not its goal ; 
' Dust thou art, to dust returnest,' 
Was not spoken of the soul. ' ' 

In concluding my remarks to you I wish 
to call your attention to one common mis- 
apprehension of "fraternity" as those 
who are not able to judge of the merits of 
a society because they have placed them- 
selves in such a position that they cannot 
see its essential points of interest and 
value. I remember a minister whose preju- 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEK. 71 

dice toward secret organizations prompt- 
ed him to say one evening at a public 
gathering to another minister: "What! 
are you a member of a secret organiza- 
tion, a minister of the Gospel f" The 
other answered without any hesitancy, 
"Yes, sir." Evidently the mystery that 
was wrapped up and withheld from the 
world made the former feel fearful of the 
other one's position. Without dwelling 
longer upon this subject, suffice it to say 
that there is a deep and profound mys- 
tery in nature, as I have shown, and in 
religion, and the highest is found in Man. 
You perhaps have seen a fern or leaf im- 
bedded with wood or stone ages or cen- 
turies ago, and you saw it perfectly pre- 
served. A mystery confronted you— it is 
a mystery, but a greater mystery to me 
is, how did man, with flesh, blood and bone, 
become the envelope or chest for Friend- 
ship, Love and Truth Iff Or that greater 
mystery, how did he discover them? f f 



72 THE MYSTIC BKOTHER. 

The arrow may often be just beyond 
yon in this life, bnt through effort to at- 
tain the victory may some day be won; 
when revelation will unfold to us the great 
and sublime Truth. Therefore be ye Loyal 
to the last! ! ! ! ! 




NOONTIME OF LIFE. 



AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER? ^OR 
HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. 



"The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, 
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for 
many. ' ' 

"Let me go where'er I will, 
I hear a sky-born music still, 
"lis not in the stars alone, 
Nor in the cups of budding flowers, 
Nor in the red-breast's yellow tone, 
Nor in the bow that smiles in showers; 
But in the mud and scum of things, 
There always, always, something sings." 
— Emerson. 

"A warmth within the breast would melt the freezing 

reason's colder part, 
And like a man in wrath, the heart stood up and 

answered, 'I have felt.' " 

— Tennyson. 

"Nothing destroys the weight of example so much 
as labor to make it striking and observed." — Channing. 

"She half consents who silently denies." — Ovid. 

"Love is not bought by money, but by love." — F. W. 
Eobertson. 



"AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPEB!" 

I am glad indeed to be with you on this 
beautiful day and this august occasion. 
Especially does it make me feel happy to 
behold so many familiar faces after the 
lapse of many months amid the vicissi- 
tudes of life. We have all been blessed 
bountifully from the providential store- 
house, which supplies continually our 
essential wants. No great epidemic has vis- 
ited us, no blighting influence has come 
upon us to destroy the tranquillity and 
happiness of our homes. Adversity has 
been hemmed in by a long night, and the 
day has revealed richly hope and promise. 
With these accordant attributes of the In- 
finite One bestowed upon us, as His chil- 
dren, let us endeavor to reciprocate our 
love to Him and hope for many blessings 
in the future. 

75 



76 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

"AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER!" 

The son of the first family came to that 
stage in life when the grave question of re- 
sponsibility dawned upon his mind with 
great weight. The dilemma that perplexed 
him has found its way into many of our 
minds and we are asked each moment in 
life the same question. How have we and 
how are we going to answer it? We can- 
not dismiss it from our minds and not dis- 
pose of it satisfactorily, for the small 
voice, conscience, will whisper, "Am I my 
brother's keeper?" as it did to Cain. Does 
silence solve the question where moral 
principles are presented! You must an- 
swer NO! The character presented to us 
in our text was reared under an environ- 
ment that happily would have made the in- 
tellect servile and dependent, and limited 
it in its knowledge of the foe of virtue and 
the progress of the human family; but the 
impassable limit, thwarted human motives 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 77 

and progress and demanded a retribution. 
"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be ac- 
cepted? And if thou doest not well, sin 
lieth at the door." In the moral sphere, 
the authority that first was vested in man, 
—that gave him choice between good and 
evil, also made him responsible for the 
performance of evil. Consequently we owe 
to every human being a more vital rela- 
tionship than man has been willing to ad- 
mit. 

In Cain we find that spirit of selfishness 
that has manifested itself in all human 
circles to the present time. The ^hardest 
attribute to conquer, no matter how slight 
or great its offense. When Cain was asked, 
"Where is Abel, thy brother! " he an- 
swered, ' ' I know not, ' ' as though he could 
hide his deed from the world, and espe- 
cially from God. But presently he is 
brought to the immensity of his crime and 
the probable punishment of it. Fear comes 



78 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

over him, as it does to all who pause to 
think of their rash acts. With anguish, he 
cries, "My punishment is greater than I 
can bear." Believing, as I interpret it, that 
he felt only death would be a just recom- 
pense. How much greater was his pun- 
ishment. Ever before his mind was the 
vision of his murdered brother; it was 
deep remorse and continual conviction of 
sin. A mark was upon him, so that his 
fondest hopes were frustrated. Here we 
learn a lesson that "acts" inspired by 
jealousy never bring to us the desired fa- 
voritism. 

We see in this lesson something more 
vital and of deeper concern to us. The In- 
finite Being very wisely prearranged a 
dwelling place for man and ordained him 
to have dominion over every living thing, 
consummating His work by giving His 
fiat, "It is very good." To this ordina- 
tion man, with his infinite mind, could not 



THE MYSTIC BEOTHEE. 79 

render a superior judgment. When Cain 
struck down Abel he digressed from the 
divine law, rebelling against God, who 
gave to both life, and held them equally 
responsible to Him for their actions to- 
ward each other. The procedure of met- 
ing out the punishment to him teaches us 
that we are dependent upon the higher 
power. "When thou tillest the ground, it 
shall not henceforth yield unto thee her 
strength. ' ' Here he must look to Him who 
controls the laws and forces of the uni- 
verse. 

In this lesson we learn still another 
truth, in taking his brother's life he sev- 
ered his affection from father and mother, 
to whom he was indebted for his life. He 
therefore, ruptured that sublime institu- 
tion the "home," the birthplace of the hu- 
man race. When we look upon the history 
of the first 4,000 years and see the barriers 
that have been thrown in its way, such as 



80 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

misery, pain, debauchery, murder, crime 
and a category of evils that have fastened 
themselves upon the neck of the human 
family with a tenacity greater than hu- 
man power could divine, how to sweep 
them away, God revealed His divine sym- 
pathy through his "only begotten son'' to 
restore the equilibrium of man's relation- 
ship to man. How stupendous and mag- 
nanimous that the readjustment should be 
ushered in by one who had no earthly 
home ! Ah ! he came to bring the principle 
of the ideal home. The evils springing 
from principles, whose origin had their 
birth in the home, must be overcome by 
principles that will revert the existing 
conditions and change the moral life to its 
intended purpose. Here we observe the 
mission of Christ. He had no place He 
could call home as we understand the term. 
But He taught the true relationship of 
each member of the family. To those who 



THE MYSTIC BEOTHEft. 81 

were defiling this sacred institution he 
gave the most scathing rebukes. He di- 
rected his greatest efforts to purify the 
home. No one before him divined that all 
the ills of life were caused by some infec- 
tion that through a secret course entered 
the home, and human weakness could not 
dispel it. Every need and every princi- 
ple, when it has reached its highest point 
or utilized its energy, may be traced back 
to its cause. Man sees the effect, but the 
infinite mind beholds both cause and effect. 
Do we not often conceive some principle 
that selfishly benefits us, but is detrimental 
to the welfare of society? I believe here is 
the reason why Jesus gave general princi- 
ples and not specific ones. We are able to 
see something more startling and remark- 
able in his teaching when we note that his 
principles were not only applicable in a 
general way, to one locality, but were ap- 
plicable to all classes, to all nations, for 



82 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

all time to come. ' ' For he taught them as 
one having authority. ' ' When we look back 
upon the old patriarchs, that broad, deep, 
pure spirit that Christ taught is hardly 
conceivable in any of their actions toward 
their fellow-beings. David planned and or- 
dered his officer, Joab, to execute his plans 
dexterously, that the life of Uriah, a faith- 
ful and loyal subject of the king, should be 
taken, for David loved the wife of Uriah. 
His intrigue was carried out successfully 
and Bathsheba became the wife of the king. 
His deeds were punished severely. Jacob 
deceived his blind father, Isaac, who said, 
"Art thou my very son Esau?" And he 
said, "I am." This lie brought him re- 
morse in after years. Isaac and Abraham 
each in turn deceived, and we might go 
through the long list of Old Testament 
worthies only to find them at trying 
moments resorting to base deception. 
There existed a selfish spirit that should 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 83 

not be emulated by us. David said, "If 
ye become peaceable unto me to help me, 
mine heart shall be knit unto you." The 
world could not call that true friendship 
or brotherly kindness. I therefore ask you, 

By whom was the principle of true fra- 
ternity given to the world? 
Perhaps some will say that the lesson 
taught in the vicissitudes of Job 's life, and 
his unimpeachable answers comprehended 
the full meaning of ' ' fraternity. ' ' We must 
grant that the principles set forth in the 
29th chapter of Job are beautiful in their 
broad sweep: "When the ear heard me, 
then it blessed me, and when the eye saw 
me, it gave witness to me; because I de- 
livered the poor that cried and the father- 
less, and him that had none to help him. 
. I caused the widow's heart to 
sing for joy. . . . I was eyes to the 
blind and feet was I to the lame. ' ' This he 



84 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

contended was his relationship to his fel- 
low-beings from his youth. Others may see 
commendable teachings in the lives of 
great and noble characters, who have had 
one or more strong attributes, that made 
them to stand out more prominently in 
their generation than other members. But 
this brings it to a narrow and narrower 
conception of what true fraternity is. God 
requires that we ' ' do good to all men, ' ' in 
whatsoever capacity the need presents it- 
self. "For ye are all brethren" . 
"for one is your father which is in 
heaven. ' ' This is the basis of Jesus ' teach- 
ing true "fraternity." He came, friends, 
in a manner like unto each of us, born of a 
woman. He might just as easily have 
been brought to earth in any other form, 
and still have retained his power and vir- 
tue, without passing through the hard- 
ships of human life. But in this very point 
is the essential lesson that was an3 is to 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 85 

be taught. Jesus came to teach men their 
duty toward each other and to respect and 
love their creator. If he were to teach a 
lesson so universal in its scope, it was 
quite essential that he should begin as man 
began, and pass through each stage with 
his perfect example, leaving the true prin- 
ciples for man to emulate. This I main- 
tain he did without faltering. Born in a 
humble place, without pomp or regal splen- 
dor, so humble that the deepest poverty 
surrounded his birth-place. His light 
pierced through the lowering gloom, until 
the earth rejoiced to sing the prophecy of 
old : ' ' For unto us a child is born, unto us 
a son is given, and the government shall 
be upon his shoulder, and his name shall 
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the 
Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the 
Prince of Peace. ' ' We may follow him as 
the echoes of the heavenly host, ' ' Glory to 
God in the highest, and on earth peace, 



86 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

good will toward men," are dying away, 
but the pattern of earth's only perfect 
child is increasing in grandeur and wis- 
dom, unto that day when the voice of 
heaven shall cry out, i ' This is my beloved 
son, in whom I am well pleased/ ' Pass- 
ing on a few years, and we behold him liv- 
ing out his perfect obedience to his par- 
ents and his neighbors, that the most 
critical observer finds "no fault in him. ,, 
I must dwell at greater length upon this 
character for the sake of the great princi- 
ple that I hope to set clearly before you. 
It has always been my firm belief that 
true "Fraternity" never did exist before 
Christ gave to the world his unbiased, un- 
prejudiced, unselfish principles, that com- 
prehended more than the religions that 
preceded his time had comprehended. The 
Jewish people believed that they were the 
chosen people of God and the only ones in 
whom God had any interest. All the reli- 



THE MYSTIC BEOTHER. 87 

gions of the world were inclined to special- 
ize for a class, society or for a nation, 
save the Christian religion. Jesus taught 
them that, "One is your Father, which is 
in heaven . . . one is your Master, 
even Christ, and all ye are brethren. ' ' To 
the young man who was perhaps worldly 
wise, he gave a full compendium of Chris- 
tian teaching, and closed his saying with 
the precept, ' l Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
as thyself.' ' The youth had perhaps 
shown his appreciation of his own kinfolks, 
but he had not interpreted that deeper love 
to throw his mantle of unselfishness about 
the poor of the Gentiles as well as the 
Jews. He probably offered to excuse him- 
self on the ground that no teacher had ever 
exacted such obeisance of one who was a 
Jew and had kept that religion to the let- 
ter. But here, Christ added to it what it 
lacked. 
I have no desire to divert your entire at- 



88 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

tention to something that is ancient, but I 
am eager to set forth the attributes as they 
have come down to us, from that perfect 
brother. His Friendship. It appeals to 
me very keenly, as it must to you, sur- 
rounded by so many destructive forces. To 
know that you have friends and that they 
are watching for your welfare must bind 
you with a tie not easily broken. We see 
this strongly set forth in Jesus ministry. 
His thoughts were about heavenly things, 
but he did not separate himself from 
earthly friends, for as he began his min- 
istry he called about him those especially 
adapted for the mission. They were not 
from the rich class, but from the honest 
poor class, men who were willing to sacri- 
fice for the good of others, men who did 
as the rich young man would not do, give 
up all and follow him. We cannot truth- 
fully say that it is impossible for us to do 
the same, for it has been demonstrated 



THE MYSTKJ BROTHER. 89. 

time and again. Yon have not been called 
upon to do the impossible, bnt that, that is 
within your power to do. When these same 
followers a little later on taught the prin- 
ciples that they had received, it was said> 
"Now when they saw the boldness of Pe- 
ter and John, and perceived that they 
were unlearned and ignorant men, they 
marveled and they took knowledge of 
them, that they had been with Jesus.' ' 
' ' These that have turned the world upside 
down have come hither also. ' ' He had not 
withheld his true riches from them, the 
world was witness to their utter poverty 
of intellectual wealth before "they had 
been with Jesus;" now they were able to 
overcome the difficulties of the world. Je- 
sus loved friends; out of the little band 
that was chosen some were closer to him 
than others, but the bond was a congenial, 
mutual affection. We all have our friend- 
ships, in childhood and in manhood. What 



90 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

would this old world be without it? Simply 
a struggle for existence. But by the grace 
of God the principle of friendship has been 
ushered in, and individuals, society and 
nations have been blessed by it, and the 
world has witnessed a transformation, 
that to-day stands upon the eminence of an 
age unparalleled in all the annals of his- 
tory. We are brethren the world over. 
Poets have sung: 

So close is glory to our dust, 

So near is God to man, 

When duty whispers low, "Thou must ,, 

The youth replies, ' ' I can. ' ' 

He who knit human hearts together and 
bound man to man, through the accordant 
attributes, won a victory that makes all 
names of history to fade as the stars of 
night at the approach of the morning sun. 
Yea, at the sound of his name, the names 
of Napoleon, Caesar and Alexander be- 
come the pygmies who were the servants of 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEB. 91 

an Ogre. And all the epitaphs of human 
ingenuity gloam in the presence of the im- 
mortal flower Friendship, implanted two 
thousand years ago to disseminate its fra- 
grance as a memorial of man's reconcilia- 
tion. I therefore count it a joy to be num- 
bered among that noble army whose ban- 
ners have inscribed upon them, "Friend- 
ship, Love and Truth. ' '■ 

There is a benevolence allied to these 
precepts:— The distinction of which 
should be made carefully and honestly. We 
have read not a few times lately of great 
gifts being made to communities for the 
benefit of the less fortunate, who have not 
the means at hand to develop their talents 
as "perhaps they would otherwise do, the 
opportunity presenting itself. I refer di- 
rectly to those institutions bestowed upon 
a community with a proviso that so much 
money is raised each year for their main- 
tenance. May I ask, does not the taxation 



92 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

come directly from the poor of that city? 
Also who are they that take advantage of 
such gifts! You will certainly answer, 
those who are struggling to keep body and 
soul together and who are continually con- 
fronted by the grinning monster pov- 
erty, must meet the additional burden of 
keeping up an institution that is not invit- 
ing to them, because they cannot feel at 
ease in the presence of the more fortunate 
who frequent the place. Those who take 
advantage of the privilege are well able to 
establish reading rooms in their own homes 
at a very nominal cost. To many of us 
it is a selfish gift to create a memorial for 
the glory of one name, supported and main- 
tained by the great mediocre class. I am 
glad to say that our elder brother inflicted 
no such burdens upon us, but gave to us 
the fundamental principles for all institu- 
tions that constitute or imply all the needs 
of man. 



THE MYSTIC BEOTH'EB. 93 

There are many kinds of charities that 
are really a blessing. But many that are 
given with the spirit that it costs us nothing 
to give them are colored somewhat with the 
feeling it is to a mendicant. It is with grati- 
fication that I say, not so in our fraternity, 
we help one because misfortune has over- 
taken him, and it is a pleasure to help 
him as a brother in any way that his needs 
may demand. We ask for no public dem- 
onstration of it or the greatest good would 
be lost. The most unique presentation of 
practical benevolence was given in a par- 
able by the keenest analyst of human na- 
ture that has ever been written. A man that 
had been overpowered and robbed was left 
by his assailants at the roadside to die; 
three travelers, each in turn, saw the man 
that was wounded; the first one a priest, 
passed by on the other side, the second a 
Levite, saw him and passed on the other 
side, the third a Samaritan, saw him and 



94 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

had compassion on him and went to him 
and bonnd np his wounds, pouring in oil 
and wine, and set him on his own beast, 
and brought him to an inn and took care of 
him. And on the morrow, when he de- 
parted, he took out two pence and gave 
them to the host, and said unto him, ' * Take 
care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest 
more, when I come again I will repay thee. ' ' 
It will suffice to say that the Samaritan was 
the merciful one. And in all the walks of 
this earthly life, when we are called upon, 
let us never betray the trust, but remem- 
ber, "Go and do thou likewise." This 
was a hard thing for the Samaritan to do, 
for he had been taught from childhood of 
the existing castes, that the popular way 
would be for him never to assist one in 
another caste. When we interpret the full 
meaning of this act we are able to exclaim 
with him who ' c spake as never man spake, ' f 
saying, "I have not found so great faith. 



THE MYSTIC BROTHEB. 95 

no, not in Israel ; ' ' this act was a breaking 
away from the caste, and realizing the true 
worth of being recognized a man. 

I am disposed to call your attention to 
the fact that laws and forces applied to 
men as set forth in the " codes' ' of laws, 
or statutes denning crime, are inadequate 
to abate it. Or the priest and Levite would 
have cared for the religionist brother, but 
their hearts were not in it. He who said> 
' i Give me thine heart, for out of the heart 
come the issues of life, ' ? knew full well if 
man is right at heart his attitude toward 
others will be right. Benevolence is from 
within, working toward the external; it is 
a motive always akin to the act of love ; it 
cannot be forced by law, but must be win- 
nowed by the sweet breath of charity. 
Kind acts have never come from the pres- 
sure of law or force, but have been drawn 
by some accordant attribute, the medium 
between man and man. "So> what man is 



96 THE MYSTIC BROTHEK. 

through relations with others, that he is in 
himself. But what he is in himself can- 
not be known until he comes into relations 
with others." This reveals the fact why 
castes have failed in olden times and why 
their principles could not meet the appro- 
bation of the world at the time they were 
in vogue. The Saviour reversed the whole 
social system, not by force or law, but by 
love, benevolence and friendship to all. His 
method to bring about a universal brother- 
hood is on the attuned relationship that 
men hold by creation to each other. It 
was not an idea or a theory, but a fact. 
Just as one apple was drawn to the earth 
upon being released from the bough, so 
was every other apple drawn by the same 
force. And man, having like qualities of 
all in his species and genera, will in like 
manner disseminate all the similitudes of 
his nature to society when he is freed from 
the incumbrances that restrain perfect 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 97 

freedom. So charity means a natural in- 
flux of a quality where there is a demand, 
coming from a source where there is an 
excess. When men band themselves to- 
gether for special purposes they are able 
to adequately meet the demand in any one 
or more of the deficient functions. This 
fact is noted not only in the social life, but 
also in the forming of combinations in the 
commercial and political life. But the 
basic principle should be the same in each. 
It should conserve for the welfare of all. 
That will bring the equality and foster the 
spirit of fraternity that remained dormant 
from the moment Abel fell until the 
"Prince of Peace' ' revivified it. All inter- 
vening epochs of religion barred it from 
their ethical codes. In the anti-Christian 
era men took rulers from the ranks of the 
ruled and in a mysterious manner exalted 
them in a very short time after their sepa- 
ration from the plain people, as the ap- 



98 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

pointed by the Infinite Being, that made 
the ruler the medium between the Infinite 
Father and his children whereas, if it had 
been truly interpreted, it was the philan- 
thropic spirit or act of charity that placed 
kings, emperors and rulers on their 
thrones. It is not sane to say the least 
that God in his infinite wisdom would place 
corruption over virtue or illiteracy over 
intelligence to lead a people toward the 
goal of highest purity. Isaiah gave a beau- 
tiful lesson to illustrate this point, "A 
man hews him down a tree in the wood, and 
a part of it he burns, with the residue 
thereof he maketh a god. ' ' "With one part 
of the same thing he makes an image, as 
though it had more virtue or divinity than 
the other part. Let us not forget that, 
" things equal to the same thing are equal 
to each other/ ' we all emanated from the 
same father and therefore have equal re- 
lationships to him and to each other. 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEK. 99 

I care not, friends, how much honor you 
may confer on any man or how high he 
may stand in the estimation of the world, 
if he has not the broadest sympathies for 
fellow-man and does not seek to follow the 
giver of all truth, though he may have the 
power of argument as a Socrates or the 
philosophy of a Plato, he is less than the 
least of them, who follow truth only. Our 
station in life should always determine our 
ability to alleviate the essential needs of 
the distressed about us. A minister once 
said to me, "If men would forget the idea 
that 'I am going to starve if I do not 
horde up now,' they would live happier 
and more prosperous and would live in the 
lives of those with whom they come in con- 
tact, so that in the day of need their friends 
would see that they were provided for." 
Now I want to call your attention to this 
fact, men think that financial distress is 
the only misfortune that is to be feared. 



Lrf( 



100 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

but I once saw a rich man die, and while 
it is true he did not need for anything that 
money would buy, he did lack sorely in one 
thing that it could not purchase, in his 
close pursuit of making money he forgot 
his spiritual life, that had been starved, 
and no friends could supply his need ; that 
to me was very sad indeed. But the sad- 
dest of all was he could not take his money 
beyond the grave. If his life had been 
otherwise we might have said, 

"How far that little candle throws its 

beams ! 
So shines a good deed in a naughty world. ' ' 

There is a poverty of intellect that is 
more painful and direful than physical 
need. It has been the pandemic of every 
age. Men have run by sight rather than by 
reason for objects of their affections. They 
hold to forms rather than to principles. 
Men look upon their fellow-men as a mat- 



THE MYSTIC BEOTHER. 101 

ter of dollars and cents and not how much 
moral character or moral culture or how 
much pure thought they are able to convey 
to the minds of others. The greatest philan- 
thropy to humanity was given by him who 
gave the richest hopes, the brightest prom- 
ises, the highest intellectual culture, and 
appealed directly to the intellect for the 
consummation of them. If we possess a 
wealth of " spiritual substance'' and 
propagate to others the lessons as they are 
set before us in the word of God and as 
they were taught by the divine teacher 
when on earth, life will grow sweeter and 
hope grow brighter as we march up the 
circle of our destiny. With the simple 
statement that of the two forms of pov- 
erty referred to suffice it to say, spiritual 
poverty is more deplorable ; therefore pon- 
der well your condition. "Let the mind of 
Christ be in you, ' ' and you will be able to 
overcome all human weakness, which is 



102 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

tinted or tinged with " prejudice. ' ' I be- 
lieve it was Isaac Taylor who said, "Preju- 
dices are unreasonable judgments formed 
or held under the influence of some other 
motive than the love of truth.' ' The Jew- 
ish people refused to inculcate the prin- 
ciples of fraternity because of prejudice. 
But since the great teacher gave the pan- 
acea for all conditions of life, fraternity 
is making wonderful inroads in all coun- 
tries recognizing the sacred rights of 
individuals regardless of color. 

I desire to rest your attention for a few 
moments on another term closely affiliated 
with others mentioned in this address here 
this afternoon; it is " sympathy.' ' Every- 
thing in the natural and moral sphere is 
joined by a tie of sympathy. The parable 
of the shepherd leaving his flock to find 
the one that had wandered away, and when 
he found it he brought it back with joy, 
not that it was of more value than any 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 103 

other of his flock, but he manifested sym- 
pathy in searching for it. And then we 
have that strong appeal made to us in the 
parable of the two sons, the one went into a 
far country with his portion of his father's 
estate, and shortly became a spendthrift, 
a profligate and consumed his portion in 
riotous living. When he had become, as 
the author said, "dead to his father' ' pa- 
ternal love and sympathy grew more ar- 
dent; that upon his return the father ex- 
pressed his emotions by preparing him to 
meet friends and rise to his station in life. 
Forgetting the shame that the son brought 
to the home, sympathy overruled and joy 
crowned the event. 

It is not an infrequent occurrence at the 
present time for human sympathy to be 
extended to* the fallen who are not of our 
immediate kinfolks. 

i i No one is so accursed by fate, 
No one so utterly desolate, 



104 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

But some heart, though unknown, 
Responds unto his own. ' ' 

— Longfellow : Endymion. 

May I ask by whom was this compassion 
ushered into human lives? It was taught 
by the touching revelation when Jesus 
called unto him the little children and 
blessed them, saying, ' ' Of such is the king- 
dom of heaven, ' ' rebuking the disciples for 
their misinterpretation of his mission. 
Jesus loved men and in turn men loved Je- 
sus. In his saddest hours his sympathy 
went out to the distressed, forgetting his 
own suffering. At the crucial period in his 
life, when on the march to the place of 
crucifixion, there were some women who 
bewailed and lamented his hard lot, "but 
Jesus, turning, said unto them, l Daugh- 
ters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but 
weep for yourselves and for your chil- 
dren. ' ' ' No broader, deeper sympathy has 
ever been recorded in human history ! No 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEE. 105 

greater love, for human woe ever pierced 
scoffing hearts! " Father, forgive them, 
they know not what they do. ' ' What ! at 
the last moment on earth retaliate good 
for evil ! Yes, the resplendent glory of his 
life has revealed to the world that he is 
the Son of God. And that he is our brother 
and friend. Let me then, in conclusion ex- 
hort you, brother Odd Fellows, that as our 
elder brother has exemplified brotherhood 
in a polluted world, where no martyr or 
general has ever dared to proclaim it, l i the 
blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, 
the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear> 
the dead are raised up, and the poor have 
the gospel preached to them." "A friend 
of publicans and sinners/ ' "And he shall 
turn the heart of the fathers to the children 
and the heart of the children to their fa- 
thers, lest I come and smite the earth with 
a curse,' ' that we as a fraternal order in- 
terpret and carry out the principles of our 



106 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

great teacher, who taught us plainly that 
we are "all brethren" and must neces- 
sarily hold our relationship to him whether 
in weal or woe, and to each other, "for no 
man liveth unto himself.' ' Therefore let 
us strive that the future shall find us 
spending our energies in doing good, that 
we may continue to be universally recog- 
nized as the grandest fraternal and benevo- 
lent organization in the world. May God 
bless you and keep you is my desire. 

I thank you for your close attention and 
especially the members of this "order" 
for the large audience that has greeted 
me. 




EVENING OF LIFE. 



RELIGION IS THE BASIS OF ALL 
FRATERNITY 



"The clouds may drop down titles and estates, 
Wealth may seek us — but wisdom must be sought." 
— Young's Night Thoughts. 

"False friendship is like the ivy, decays and ruins 
the wall it embraces; but true friendship gives new 
life and animation to the object it supports. " 

— Eobert Burton. 

' ( Moral culture must begin with a change in the way 
of thinking, and with the founding of a character." 

—Kant. 
"What is it to be wise? 
'Tis but to know how little can be known, 
To see all others' faults, and feel our own." 

— Pope's Essay on Man. 

"Here the best way to represent to life the manifold 
use of friendship is to cast and see how many things 
there are that a man cannot do himself." 

— Bacon's Essay on Friendship. 



RELIGION IS THE BASIS OF ALL 
FRATERNITY. 

"A new commandment I give unto you. 
That ye love one another ; as I have loved 
you, that ye also love one another."— 
John 13:34. 

It is natural for mankind to hold fast to 
events that are conspicuous for the influ- 
ence that they give to the progress of the 
human race. In ancient times many beau- 
tiful customs were observed and empha- 
sized by setting a day apart as a memorial. 
to celebrate the event. Such days have 
not passed entirely from our observance, 
although there are many who do not com- 
prehend the importance of them or they 
would not make them days of levity and 
debauchery, as a multitude of human beings 
do. Memorial days bring to us in part the 

109 



110 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

trials and afflictions that our ancestry en- 
dured to consummate victory,— we will 
never be able to realize the energy that was 
put forth and the cost of human life; but 
we can all estimate how much we are put- 
ting forth to preserve such days to the 
memory of the rising generation. I rev- 
erence the observance of such days as 
1 ' Decoration Day, ' ' " Fourth of July, ' ' and 
that of " Christmas, ' ' but there are many 
who set such days apart to have a holiday 
for reveling. We have records, however, 
of such days as the " Passover' ' and " Pen- 
tecost' ' that were kept in the strictest 
sense, sacred. Why should they not be ? If 
we will gather the data we will find that 
they had a divine purpose at their founda- 
tion. We are also setting aside special 
days that have a profound meaning to us 
as a fraternal and benevolent organization, 
whose history dates back further than that 
of David; we boast of a lineage back to 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. Ill 

that great General, who went into Egypt 
and delivered the downtrodden and op- 
pressed multitude out of bondage, who be- 
came the chosen vessel of God to restore 
to his fellow-beings their liberty and jus- 
tice. So we are assembled to-day to 
gather truths from the lives of those 
eminent characters, whose fidelity and 
loyalty to great principles preserved them 
as a mighty nation. 

It is related in history that there was 
a time after the deluge, "when men 
walked every one in his own way, and 
grew forgetful of him that made them," 
that God began to set aside a chosen 
people, who refrained from the vices of 
that corrupt generation and followed 
after God. We are indeed proud to 
recognize in Abraham just such traits as 
were acceptable to God and in whom the 
Infinite One found sufficient faith that He 
said, "in thy seed shall all the nations 



112 THE MYSTIC BROTHEK. 

of the earth be blessed: because that 
Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my 
charge, my commandments, my statutes, 
and my laws;" as he roved over the 
land which had been given to him, for- 
getting not the promise and the gift that 
is beyond the power of man's mind to 
estimate its value;— let us not forget that 
virtue is ever rewarded: 

"That the love of God is broader 
Than the measure of man's mind;" 

and in our wandering we should ever emu- 
late those principles which will redound 
to the greatest good. 

The disinterestedness that Abraham 
showed in dealing with Lot and his men 
when contention was almost self-evident, 
as each had great possessions or sub- 
stance and self-interest is always the first 
step to arouse jealousy and to instigate 
prejudice; so we are able to gather a 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 113 

clear and well defined principle in the 
character of this good old Patriarch, for 
above all possessions or substance he car- 
ried that well defined principle that no 
strife should occur between them, because 
"we be brethren.' ' 

The idea of " Fraternity' ' comes then 
from the mind of a God-fearing man, to 
us, through the interpretation of religious 
precepts. His progeny were well taught 
in all the essential lessons designed to 
make men both just and prosperous. 
Which, if time would permit, might easily 
be shown in the lives of Isaac and Jacob 
and others; but it is not my intention to 
unfold a minute detail of each individual 
who followed God's ways in preference 
to man's, living in reality, truth, which 
ever binds men as brothers. 

"When truth is not followed closely we 
find that discord is the alternation. Let 
the slightest digression intervene and no 



114 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

philosopher is able to divine the far- 
reaching results. It is like the mustard 
seed, " which a man took, and sowed in 
his field: which indeed is the least of all 
seeds; but when it is grown, it is the 
greatest among herbs, and becometh a 
tree." Discord was never intended to 
come into the life of any brotherhood 
and when it does it always disrupts. Its 
weapon is conspiracy, as in the house- 
hold of Jacob, when he loved Joseph, the 
brothers hated Joseph and plotted to kill 
him or at any rate to break the love that 
the father had for the son. The conse- 
quences of their evil was not considered, 
and he was sold to a company of Ishmael- 
ites, because their conscience bothered 
them too much to take his life, for "he is 
our brother.' ' 

It has always touched the tender cord 
of sympathy in me, to think that they 
tore him away from the old father with- 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEE. 115 

out an opportunity to bid farewell as the 
custom was, and to become a servant to 
strangers whose dealings with him would 
be uncertain. But the providential care 
of the Infinite Being was to preserve him 
that the promise to Abraham, for faith- 
fulness, should not be severed. The 
sacred historian has revealed the work- 
ings of God in a beautiful account, with 
all the details leading up to the crowning 
of a virtuous life. It was just that kind 
of a life that is admired in any young 
man that made Joseph successful; that 
could overcome the greatest enticements, 
though a prison cell, with its dismal, lone- 
some, murky walls, stared him in the 
face,— for remaining unmoved by the en- 
treaties of his master's wife,— was the 
beginning of a character which was des- 
tined to rule over all the land. The poet 
has spoken the appropriate words that 
may be applied to his life as we see it,— 



116 THE MYSTIC BllOTHEK. 

i 'His steps were slow, yet forward still 
He pressed wliere others paused or 
failed ; 
The calm star clomb with constant will— 
The restless meteor flashed and 
paled. ' , — Whittier. 

The man who at heart is right, will 
ultimately overcome, although he may be 
restrained for a time,— even " truth 
crushed to earth will rise again, ,, — and 
the man that holds fast to right and jus- 
tice, will as certainly rise as those whose 
lives we behold on the sacred page, be- 
coming the leaders of nations. Do we 
not read in the sacred writer's own ten- 
der words:— " God did send me before 
you to preserve life,— to save your lives 
by a great deliverance; so now it was not 
you that sent me hither, but God; and he 
made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord 
of all his house, and a ruler throughout 
all the land of Egypt?" Joseph gave his 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 117 

brothers the message to their father, he 
said, "God hath made me lord of all 
Egypt." The mighty men gave God the 
first place and recognition in their lives, 
and their power to rule, was to the people 
a "wonder working" power. 

As we stand to-day amid the ruins of 
once dazzling empires, and recall the re- 
corded facts, we are carried at once to 
the wealth, splendor and culture of the 
people; their habits and intellectual pur- 
suits ; their great men, though few in each 
age, and not the magnificence of ponder- 
ous structures,— for the people of any 
nation have the power within them that 
cannot perish as heaps of stone or as 
designs of wood. Their minds possess 
that faculty or part of faculty that is the 
nexus between the past generation and 
the present generation; that is the thread 
that binds the first human family to all 



118 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

succeeding ones, until "time shall be no 
more." 

It is by this term, which I will use, 
the nexus that joins all of mankind as 
step by step or brother to brother. When 
God said that, Abraham had kept "my 
commandments, my statutes, and my 
laws," and for this a blessing should 
come, it was necessary for Abraham's 
seed to walk justly and circumspectly 
before God. So that it was as essential 
that those preceding Moses were upright 
as it was for Moses to have in his char- 
acter those qualities required for the one 
who should lead the oppressed out of 
Egypt. Character and conduct run back 
several generations and is linked by the 
nexus to human life, by which we dis- 
cern the old adage, "blood will tell." 
The commandment which Abraham kept 
was no more compulsory, than the one 
Moses kept, but all the commandments 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 119 

were to be kept and God with His Infinite 
Power would produce the promised re- 
sults. 

We have seen so far how families were 
re-united after a lapse of many years, 
so we are able to see how God can re- 
unite nations, though decades intervene, 
or even centuries. As through the faith- 
ful ones in the families, so through the 
individuals in the succeeding generations 
has the spirit of utter dependence upon 
the one common Father, brought the 
brotherhood of man. This spirit of broth- 
erhood had much of the selfishness in it 
that man put there himself, by a very 
high opinion of self which has no divine 
sanction and runs to no higher source 
than that, that is human. Man had a 
narrow conception of his real position; 
he held firmly to the clannish ideas that 
he was righteous, forgetting that, "who- 
soever doeth not righteousness is not of 



120 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

God, neither lie that loveth not his 
brother.' ' "Not as Cain who was of that 
wicked one, and slew his brother. And 
wherefore slew he him? Because his own 
works were evil, and his brother's right- 
eous." Here then, we are able to dis- 
criminate what is meant by the spirit of 
righteousness that we mistake not, for 
"he who loveth God love his brother 
also." The great mistake was the ap- 
pearance of man to man; he made the 
cup and the platter clean on the outside 
but within was too much envy, hatred and 
selfishness toward mankind,— in other 
words their boasting of the law of Moses 
and the commandments that were given 
to the children of Abraham, were shut out 
of the inner life, but freely ventilated be- 
fore observers, which might be well inter- 
preted to mean,— the less within the more 
without. Men cannot have any principle 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHER. 121 

at heart that will not reveal itself in some 
outward form, in daily life. 

When Jesus announced to the world, "A 
new commandment I give unto you," he 
called men to look within themselves and 
sling appearances away as they would 
hurl stones from the sling; that they 
should drink from a fountain that had 
living water which would never fail; a 
benevolence that is broader, deeper, 
greater than all the storehouses of Egypt 
in Joseph's time; a tenderness and sym- 
pathy that measures from the humblest 
human-heart to the Divine Throne of 
Grace: Yes, a new commandment I give 
unto you, whereas ye have never seen 
human life aspire to a throne or made to 
rule over men, as Joseph was exalted in 
Egypt, without a display of authority, yet 
will I display to you that he who has 
"All authority in Heaven and on Earth" 
reveals that humility that displays divine 



122 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

character in dining with "Publicans and 
Sinners"; "a Friend of Publicans and 
Sinners," associating with fishermen, 
satisfying the multitude because they had 
nothing to eat, this was the interpretation 
of the "new commandment." He turned 
society to choose not its members because 
they represented so much wealth, or be- 
cause they were the progeny of appointed 
classes, or because they wore soft and 
costly fabrics; for they might take on 
the spirit of Nabal, or Balak, or Festus; 
but rather to choose those whose only 
standard was the highest virtue. This 
commandment was new in spirit. When 
divine life is revealed it is love for man- 
kind; when human life is revealed it is 
contempt for fellow-man. To harmonize 
the human and divine nature of men was 
the purpose of this commandment. 

The mere statement of this law did not 
create any bitter feeling among the op- 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 123 

posers of its true meaning. They all pro- 
fessed a deep reverence for God and 
manifested great love for Him in their 
forms of worship; so that any reference 
to the virtue love, would not antagonize 
those who were narrow in the conception 
of Christ's meaning. Shall we ask our- 
selves what did He mean by "a new com- 
mandment I give unto you?" I believe 
that he meant in the divine sense, what 
we mean in the human sense,— that if the 
children of earthly parents love their 
parents, they must love each other. The 
parents would be very ungrateful if they 
should bring any influence to bear on one 
child that would be to the detriment of 
that child and to the gratification of 
another child of the same family, all the 
children would immediately see that an 
injustice had been perpetrated, but this 
is not the truth; the father loved them 
the same and dealt justly with all, the 



124 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

responsibility of errors rested with the 
children. The father corrected them by 
admonition and example:— " This is my 
beloved son"— who should carry the sanc- 
tion of the Father to his children, that the 
warning Jesus Christ should give was 
authorized by the Father. A second 
enunciation was given, "God so loved the 
world, that he gave his only begotten 
Son,"— that whatever he might do, by 
way of example to the world, would have 
the highest authority; and would be the 
will and character of God revealed to 
man. 

Let us look at the Example he gave us 
as a pattern that he would have us fol- 
low. "That ye love one another; as I 
have Loved you,"— they understood in 
part what Love meant but would not com- 
prehend the Spirit of it;— Love in that 
sense without the spirit of it attached is 
like so many fibers, all remaining sepa- 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 125 

rated and weak— but are still fibers— join 
them and yon can hardly estimate the ad- 
ditional strength by the nnion:— now add 
to Love the Spirit of it and yon cannot 
estimate its valne or its power. Christ 
did not give a theory to bring the nnion 
about as men wonld do, he pnt in full 
practice, every idea that he propagated. 
If we judge by the multitudes that fol- 
lowed him, he must have touched the 
secret spring in human life. Look for a 
moment at the human side of this prin- 
ciple,— men and women in our day will 
gather much, in the way of alms for the 
poor, and the wealthy class will give quite 
liberally— if a great display is to be made 
—then the leaders gather in some conven- 
ient place to run over the list and allot 
so much to each, in a mechanical way— 
and in conclusion, they send the gifts by 
men who are hired to deliver them to the 
given addresses. What is the result? 



126 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

Many would answer that the results are 
not worth the trouble. Why? The 
answer is not hard,— suppose that your 
parents should desire to give you a little 
token, and they should hire some one to 
deliver it, who had no more interest in 
the work than he was paid for, you could 
not possibly value it as much as if your 
mother with her own tender words of love 
should give it to you thus manifesting her 
personal interest in you, in addition to 
the gift. Human nature is the same in 
the rich and the poor, men want that per- 
sonal, distinctive power that can only 
come with the presence of the individual. 
Love cannot be unnoticed, however small 
the gift, if the spirit of it is divined from 
the lips of the donor. Christ exemplified 
this in all his dealings with the world. 
His personal attention to the ills and 
weakness of mankind. 
His examination of the Apostle Peter 



THE MYSTIC BROTHEB. 127 

after they had dined, brings out the force 
of the law of Love. When he said to 
Peter, "Lovest thou me?" it revealed 
the mind of Christ. It emphasized the 
human side of God, that all qualities of 
mind and body, tempted the Example of 
God, but nothing could break the law of 
Love. These to whom the words came, 
" lovest thou me?" gave all that they had 
or hoped to have on earth, that their lives 
should be for others, although strangers to 
them in a sense—with the simple duty, 
"let us not be weary in well-doing, for we 
shall reap if we faint not." When we 
were children facts were beyond our men- 
tal grasp, we incorporated them in our 
lives as time and nature equipped us for 
them; this law was for ages beyond the 
mind of man to grasp until the Great 
Teacher gave the simplest analysis of it. 
Now it is like some invention, after we 
see how simple it is, in its construction, 



128 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

then we ask why did not some one think 
of it long ago? 

The strongest reason to my mind, why 
this law was not revealed to the world 
before, was on account of misunderstand- 
ing. Moses gave up his inheritance, 
which was royalty, dominion, power, lux- 
ury and courtly honor, to become an exile, 
to become a deliverer. Perhaps no one 
could see in his time why he should give 
up the former for the latter, but it was 
necessary. All through human history 
we learn that men who were great men, 
gave up a great deal of self to accomplish 
their work and scarcely ever were their 
acts comprehended at the time. The men 
whom we take example from, gave up the 
very things that men quarrel over, such 
as wealth and land to retain friendship, 
and all that we can read into the meaning 
of the expression, "we be brethren." 
After all, when men are thoroughly 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 129 

understood, the deepest ties are formed. 
It is equally true of that grand band of 
noble women, whose characters should 
ever be emulated for purity, virtue and 
faith. See the devotion of Euth to 
Naomi, after Orpah had taken her depart- 
ure:— "Entreat me not to leave thee, or 
to return from following after thee: for 
whither thou goest, I will go ; and where 
thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people 
shall be my people, and thy God my God: 
where thou diest, will I die, and there will 
I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and 
more also, if aught but death part thee 
and me,"— and you have the truest type 
of pure love of woman that has ever been 
recorded. To my mind it excels that of 
David and Jonathan, although it was said 
by David of Jonathan, "thy love to me 
was wonderful,, passing the love of 
woman/ ' It could have been said of Ruth, 
"woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee 



130 THE MYSTIC BROTHEB. 

even as thou wilt." I love Ruth's pic- 
ture of character, yes of true womanhood. 
How grand! how sublime! are the words, 
"I will go," "I will lodge," "thy people 
shall be My people," "thy God My God," 
"will I die, if aught but death part thee 
and me." She spoke the sentiment of 
her heart, for "she loved much." Woman 
is the greatest and truest friend of man- 
kind. Euth said, what every woman that 
is a woman, would do for man, though all 
others forsake him she will remain faith- 
ful and loyal. Woman is the superior to 
man in all philanthropic work. Her sym- 
pathy leads her intuitively to do her best. 
Queen Esther rescued her people at the 
risk of her own life, going before the 
king, which was contrary to the law, with 
a determination, "if I perish, I perish." 
We have as many heroines as heroes if 
we look into the history of all the ex- 
amples given in our beloved Order. 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 131 

These lessons of womanly courage have 
something pathetic in them that thrills 
and inspires us so, that we would gladly 
follow their noble patterns, but they are 
immediately exalted above our feeble 
efforts. It may be as the old French 
proverb has it, "What woman wills God 
wills.' ' In the case of Mordecai, making 
known to Esther the conspiracy against 
her people, brought her before the throne 
to implore mercy for her people: Does 
it not seem to you that her will was 
God's will? The first lessons that we all 
receive at the beginning of life, come from 
the highest human source, our Mothers, 
When we learn to understand one another 
then we will live as Christ would have the 
world live,— like one human family,— lov- 
ing one another as brother, as sister, as 
Christ loved us. But to attain the point 
Christ would have us reach we must give 
up much, to accomplish much. You know 



132 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

there are thousands of men and women 
who would not hesitate to do some great 
thing, and would rather wait for some 
great opportunity to come, that in a 
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, they 
may cover themselves with glory; not 
heeding the little things, that are splendid 
opportunities. The little things in life, 
are like the poor,— they are ever present 
but the great things seldom appear. To 
emphasize this thought, Miriam did not 
do a great thing, to stand and watch the 
baby brother from danger, if we only see 
the present, but if we look and fathom 
the depth of this little deed, we see a few 
years roll down the aeon of time and 
Moses is made the deliverer of his people 
and Miriam was honored by him, as an 
associate leader. The little things are 
really the great things in life. To under- 
stand it all, is to realize that the mighty 
sea is made up of little drops of water, 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHER. 133 

the great earth is made of little grains of 
sand, the human life is made up of little 
kindly deeds, and Character is the sum- 
mary of all the love that we have one for 
another. 

There is one other thought that I will 
offer, it is that caustic or satirical element 
in human nature that frequently creeps 
out and destroys much of the good that 
has been accomplished. I know not why 
this is unless it is demonstrated in the 
potency of a few grains of poison to 
destroy a very large quantity of life's 
elixir,, and a very little satire goes deeper 
into the vital parts of life than the point- 
ed steel ; and can never be drawn out, that 
restoratives may be applied. Its symp- 
toms are beyond human knowledge. It 
emphasizes itself in envy, jealousy, and 
prejudice; all combining in conspiracy, 
and culminating in murder. The old 
prophets favored the practice of having 



134 THE MYSTIC BROTHEB. 

the enemy "pass through the fire to 
Baal." The New Prophet had an ideal 
purpose to free men from self-interest, 
by offering a divine love. The old prac- 
tice, "Love yonr neighbor and hate your 
enemy," was changed by the Son of Man, 
—"Love your enemies, bless them that 
curse you, do good to them that hate you, 
and pray for them that despitefully use 
you, and persecute you;" to love your 
enemies, is to eliminate all the caustic in 
human nature. Abrogate the maxims of 
the old commandments and live the spirit 
of the new commandment. 

I believe that men are living the spirit 
of the new commandment. I remember 
an instance that occurred a few years 
ago,— a stranger, who became suddenly ill 
and having no relatives in the city, to 
whom he could go, threw himself down on 
some straw near a box-car, thinking that 
his malady was not serious, and in a few 



THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 135 

hours he would be able to go on his jour- 
ney. After awhile he was found in an 
unconscious state. A three-link-pin was 
seen on the lapel of his coat, and the 
members of the I. 0. 0. F. were informed. 
It was not long until medical aid and 
brothers were present to care for him, 
but he was beyond the aid of human 
power and passed into the beyond. Suf- 
fice it to say that many brothers marched 
to the grave of the departed brother, and 
laid the body in the narrow confine, that 
is " appointed for all the living." It is 
the last kindly act that the living can con- 
fer in respect to the dead. Life's story 
is told, the dead live in the good they 
accomplished while living. "He being 
dead, yet speaketh." All who have an 
interest in society and in mankind, will 
say that this deed just repeated, was a 
noble example of philanthropic life, but 
there are hundreds and thousands of them 



136 THE MYSTIC BROTHER. 

performed, because men are interpreting 
the greatest teacher and the first really 
true philanthropist's commandment. 

Lastly, I wish to state that all Frater- 
nal Orders, that are for the mutual bene- 
fits and benevolences of mankind, are 
based upon the qualities found in some 
religious character and propagated by 
that character in dealing with his fellow- 
man. This we have observed from the 
Holy Book, which has been taken as the 
Directory of right living, and the Stand- 
ard of Duty, which man has tried to emu- 
late, by incorporating its principles into 
his daily life and regulate his actions by 
its sanction. Without this record men 
would be at sea, and could not profit by 
the experience of others. Human nature 
is the same in each century, so human life 
must ever battle with similar difficulties 
and forces. It gives more courage and 
fortitude if the result of given principles 



THE MYSTIC BKOTHEK. 137 

is known. Lord Bacon said, "A man's 
nature runs either to herbs or weeds; 
therefore let him seasonably water the 
one, and destroy the other.' ' As if he 
had said, man will do good to man or he 
will do injustice to man. But fraternal 
organizations advocate the emulation of 
virtue as found in religious men of the 
Bible. May you all ever seek the good, 
the beautiful and the true in life, and by 
your justice, disseminate the highest vir- 
tues, which are found in the Command- 
ment, "Love one another as I have loved 
you.'' 



